Investment reaches a lockdown high at Crowdcube
By Crowdcube. 3rd Jun 2020
May saw an increase in investment activity at Crowdcube, with it reaching a lockdown high of £15.2m, more than double the amount in March when the pandemic was declared. Standout raises from the likes of Freetrade, which raised £7m, and more than 23,000 investments into campaigns in May has shown that investors are still eager to back businesses they believe in through Crowdcube, despite Covid-19.
The upward trend since March, when many entrepreneurs were focused on responding to Covid-19, is welcomed, especially given the level of uncertainty right now.
However, as you might expect, investment remains down 10% compared to May 2019 when Covid-19 wasn’t casting a shadow across the world. The extra flexibility, support and products we introduced following the outbreak has been crucial for many businesses, with 20 campaigns reaching their funding goal in May. That said, entrepreneurs should expect a fundraise to be an involved process during this period.
What is clear, is that communities and customers are rallying around businesses they believe in, and as more businesses start fundraising again, this is driving the resurgence in investment we witnessed in April and May. This shift is something our Partnerships Director, Jonathan Keeling, talks more about in his recent blog.
We’ve completed 60 successful raises since the beginning of March, for businesses like Chip, which raised £2.5m solely from its community of existing shareholders from previous rounds with Crowdcube and Freetrade, which raised £7m from over 8,500 people in a record-breaking raise. But it’s not just fintech that is flying high, we’ve helped startups and scaleups from healthcare and cleantech to apparel, such as Medic Bleep, Clim8, Pawprint and Common Objective raise over the past three months.
These success stories and positive investment trends demonstrate that fortune, and in this case, investors, favour the brave; the businesses that are pushing at the edges, striving to make a difference and are finding ways to thrive, not just survive. The entrepreneurs behind those businesses are the ones that investors continue to back when given the opportunity to invest, even when times are tough - those are the investors you want behind your business.
If you’re considering your next funding round, check out this recent article from our co-founder, Luke Lang, on a guide to funding success as we emerge from lockdown, and get in touch to discuss how Crowdcube could support your funding strategy.